The verdict is guilty on all charges for one of the men accused of shooting up a Milwaukee home, killing 5 year-old Layla Petersen two years ago. Layla’s aunt, Catherine Petersen, hopes Carl Barrett, Junior spends the rest of his life in prison.
“It feels like a weight is lifted, but at the same time it’s still very heavy in your heart,” Petersen told FOX Six News. “We remember her every day, and by remembering her she’s still alive in our hearts.”
It took a jury three hours to convict Barrett Thursday night. He’ll be sentenced December first. Barrett and two other men were charged, but Barrett is the only one to stand trial. The other two – Paul Farr and Arlis Gordon – pleaded guilty.
Layla was killed on November 6th, 2014, while sitting on her grandfather’s lap in a house four blocks away from the trio’s intended target, a residence where they thought they would find a man who’d been acquitted of killing Gordon’s brother. The men were arrested in October of 2015.